Help & FAQ for Schools

You’re a Student? Please go to Help & FAQ for Students.

You’re an Agent? Please go to Help & FAQ for Agents.


About the Site

What is CourseFinders for Languages?

CourseFinders for Languages is a student-facing site that brings together students with schools and agencies. It is completely free for students to use and for schools to feature profiles. Schools only pay when a student contacts them or makes certain interactions with their profile (see below).


What is the business model?

CourseFinders works on a cost per lead basis. There are no “featured schools”, no ads and no hidden costs. Schools are listed and are able to exhibit full profiles for free. The only charges are when students contact schools and you will only be charged if we have your prior agreement. Prospective students can send an enquiry form, download a brochure, view the phone number, send an email and click through to a school’s website. Each of these actions has a small price and schools are asked to add credit to their ICEF account, which will then be debited by the relevant amount when each interaction takes place. Would you like to learn more how CourseFinders can help you achieve your recruitment goals?

Please contact us for the price list and additional information.


How do I list my school?

Please use the “List Your School” link at the top of the home page or simply contact us.

Does CourseFinder credit expire?

No, the credit never expires and if you have not used all of your credit after 12 months you can request that we refund it back to you.

Where do the students come from?

Since launch in October 2014, students from 153 countries have used CourseFinders to help them find their perfect school. For up-to-date information about site traffic and student locations please contact us.

How can I manage my school(s)?

If you have ever attended an ICEF workshop then you can log in as a school the same email and password that you use to access MyICEF and your e-schedule account. If you have forgotten your password there is a link from the log in screen that allows you to reset it. From here, use ‘My Dashboard’ to view your school(s). All of your school locations will be visible in the left column and you can edit each individual location by clicking on the individual fields (e.g. street name, phone number etc.). You can also watch this video for further advice. If you log in successfully but cannot see any schools on your dashboard then please contact your usual ICEF representative and ask them to add you as a CourseFinders administrator. You can also contact us.


I’ve forgotten my password

Go to CourseFinders, click “Log in” and then click the link “I’ve forgotten my Password”. You will then be emailed a link allowing you to reset it.


How can I add other users to my account?

You can use the settings section from your CourseFinders dashboard to nominate other email addresses that should receive email notifications. This is useful if you want admissions staff to receive a copy of all student enquiries. If you would like to add additional administrators to help manage and edit your profile(s) then please contact us or your usual ICEF representative.

About the Students

How does CourseFinders maintain the quality of the student leads?

First of all, our marketing and search engine optimization are such that only students making relevant searches will be brought onto the site. For example, a student in Brazil searching for “escola de idiomas em nova york” (language school in new york city) will see CourseFinders in their results; Students searching for “learn english for free”, will not.

Once on the site, in order to contact a school, students must complete an enquiry form and provide at least their email address, which is verified via a 2-step verification process. Many students choose to log in using social media profiles such as Facebook or Google+, which provides even greater validity since they are verified by a 3rd party.

Finally, schools can report any quote request that they feel may not be genuine with a single click. CourseFinders will investigate and where appropriate take action (e.g. refund school and block user).


I want my agents to follow up the leads. How can I do this easily?

We know that using agents to follow up leads helps increase the conversion rate from leads to students. To facilitate this we have built some functionality into your School Admin Dashboard:

[simplelist] [slitem]You can group student enquires by nationality for easy forwarding to agents or regional recruiters[/slitem] [slitem]You can forward individual student enquiries[/slitem] [slitem]You can export all quotes as CSV files for easy importing into Enrollment Management Software and other systems[/slitem] [/simplelist]

 

There are many similar sites. Why should I invest my time in CourseFinders?

CourseFinders will deliver you high quality leads at extremely competitive prices.

No other site allows students to read student-reviews, research schools without being bombarded with irrelevant ads and has the variety and quantity of schools that CourseFinders has (over 7500 at present). This is because no other site has been designed with the students’ experience as the priority.

Student reviews are are a key resource used by students when deciding their course. CourseFinders exclusive CourseFinders Review Tool allows you to show your reviews on your own website or any other site you choose (e.g. your agents’ sites). Students can also write reviews from the Review Tool, making it easy to collect many reviews from a wide range of students.

To save you time, we have already created your profile and added as much information as possible. Simply edit your profile to add detail and photos.

CourseFinders will rank very highly in search result for students searching for language courses online. This means that you can save money on your own online advertising campaigns by maintaining good visibility within CourseFinders.

The company behind CourseFinders, ICEF, has over 30 years experience in the language travel market, and has managed a number of successful online portals since the early 1990s. ICEF has the knowledge and resources to ensure CourseFinders is a success.

Not convinced? Contact us and we will give you a free trial so that you can judge the quality of the leads for yourself.


What student markets are you going to target?

CourseFinders will be actively marketed in all major source countries of international language students. Advertising campaigns will be run in those countries, in local languages and leading to translated versions of the site.


How are you getting students on to the site?

CourseFinders is marketed using a number of online channels. Some of the online channels used are: SEO, SEM, social media, partnerships, trusted 3rd party websites and being an active member of the online international student community.

About Student Reviews

I want quality reviews on my Profile. How do I get them?

Past and current students can leave reviews directly from the Reviews tab of your school’s profile. Simply send the url of your school’s profile to your alumni and current students and they can post reviews with a single click. Some great ways to encourage your alumni include:

[simplelist] [slitem]Share your profile url via your school’s Facebook page and ask for reviews[/slitem] [slitem]Ask alumni who may now work at or with your school[/slitem] [slitem]Include in the feedback forms given to graduating students[/slitem] [slitem]Email past alumni[/slitem] [/simplelist]

You can also use the CourseFinders Review Tool.


What is a Review Tool and how do I get it?

Past and current students can leave reviews directly from the Reviews tab of your school’s profile. Simply send the url of your school’s profile to your alumni and current students and they can post reviews with a single click. Some great ways to encourage your alumni include:

The Review Tool helps you get the most from your reviews by displaying them not only on CourseFinders but also on any other site that the widget is placed. Students can also write reviews directly from the widget.

The widgets are self-updating so will always show the most recent reviews. They will also show the most relevant reviews to the viewer. The widget can tell by a visitors’ ip address where they are located and if a visitor is in South Korea the widget will show the reviews by other South Korean students first.

You can get the widget by logging in, visiting your dashboard and clicking on the Get Review Tool button.

What happens if my school receives negative reviews?

Every time a new review is left, all school admins receive a notification email containing the entire review as well as 2 options: Reply and Report.

Replies are displayed publically directly underneath the review. This provides a public forum to address any issues and is the best way to deal with any less than positive reviews. Students are more interested in how complaints are dealt with than the subject of the complaint itself.

If you believe a review was not genuine (i.e. the student is not a genuine alumni of your school) you can report the review. It will be immediately hidden from your profile while we investigate. We do not allow the reporting of reviews simply because they are not favourable to your school. The only reason a review will be permanently removed from your profile is if it is not genuine or truthful.

About Search Results

Which school will appear at the top of search results?

The default setting is “most helpful”. This is a combination of profile completeness, number of reviews and the nationality of the reviewers relative to the nationality of the student viewing the profile (e.g. if your school’s reviews are mainly by Chinese students then your school will appear higher in the search results to users in China).

Students may select to order search results in two other ways:

[simplelist] [slitem]Most Recently Reviewed[/slitem] [slitem]Most Recently Updated[/slitem] [/simplelist]

If you want to ensure your school is at the top of search results then ensure:

[simplelist] [slitem]Your profile is 100% complete[/slitem] [slitem]You have as many reviews as possible[/slitem] [slitem]You have recent reviews[/slitem] [slitem]You have reviews from a diverse range of students[/slitem] [/simplelist]

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